Air gun for tube cleaning



June 4, 1929. H. T. W EIS AIR GUN FOR TUBE CLEANING Filed Nov. 21, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet vl I Gum/wag June 4, 1929. w

AIR GUN FOR TUBE CLEANING Filed Nov. 21, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I am;

ticularly to those airguns designed primarily to force cleaning plugs through tubes to be Patented June 4, 1 929..

l its] vrsn HENRY T. WEIS, orRivesviiimii, WEST vIneiNI-A.

AIR GUN Foe TiiBn onneniner Application filed l 'ovemher 21, 1925.; Serial no. 70,657;

This invention relates to air gunsand parolea-ned.

- At the present time it is a custom in many plants employing tubedcondensers and the like, to use plugs for cleaning tubes, by forcing the cleaning plugs into the ends of the tubes and thenby placing a fiuidpressure pipe to the openings, apply the pressure to force the plugs through the tubes, thereby cleaning them.

' vision' of a fluid operatedgunifor forcing This process'is very slow and consequently the loss of time in forcing the plugs in the ends of tubes which are slightly smaller in diameter, is cons derable. It has been found to be desirable to-have the cleaning plugs cleaning plugs into and through tubes to be cleaned and having a magazine foixhold ing the plugs and an improved means for controlling the admission of plugsfrom the magazine. i

Another and further objectof my inven tion is the revision of a fluid o )erated' un iii for forcing cleaning plugs into andthrough tubes to be cleaned and having an improved valve construction whereby the feeding of plugs and that of the fluid pressure are so correlated that the fluidpressure cannot be admitted until after the plug port is closed.

Another and still further object of my invention is the provision of such a fluid operated-gun havinga s ngle valve controlling the admission of both plugs and air to the barrel of the gun. I I Referring to the drawing wherein I have illustrated a preferred embodiment OI my invention.

Fig. l is an elevational-viewof my invention.

parts.

"lit for the inner surface oi rel to be turned scribed. r

The outer end of the inner barrel is "pro-f j vided with a handle which I have illustrated Fig. 2 is anrend View of my inventionlfi'om the 'operated end showing aportio'nbroken. away for clearness. i i

Fig. is a longitudinal sectional'vieiv on a vertical plane.

Fig. 4: is a vertical sectional view on the" lin-e4.4of F g. 3.

Fig. 5 isa vertical sectional View on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, with the. plug opening I closed. p Fig. 6 1s a vertical sectional View on the line 66 of Fig. 2, the -inner barrel being turned toia point where theair is about to be turned on. v Fig. 7 is a perspective view of aplugi/ In the following description, I shall de-s scribe. my invention with .air pressur although it is'to'be understood that any lluid pressure'may be used.

In the drawing, similar reference char acters are applied to thesame orsimilar Referring particularly toj 1, 2

. 8, 1O designates amemberwhich 'Ihave il;

lustrated in "thefforin of a tube or barrel and which is relatively rotatable about an inner barrel,designated'bythe reference characterll. This innerbarrel 11 operates as'a valve 5 in a manner to be described. I Theouter sur face "of theinner barrel ll 'is madeafsnug V V the 'ou'terfbarrel 10, 'sufficient'play only between the two faces beingallowed'to permit the inner-barfora purpose to "befde in 'the form of the knob lQ. Tlhis handle used to turn the same" within tlie outergbarrel. A shoulder 13 registers with a recess 1 4 in the outer barrel lO and actsasastop to limit the movement of theinner barrel 11 man atial direction and to the-leftpas viewed in Fig. 3. Theinner end ofthe'inner V I barrel 11,fis threaded jfor 'c'oa'ctionwith a shoulder 16 engages the inner end of.

'12 is rigid with the inner. barrellland is corresponding andcomplementary thread in; i a nozzle L5. Th s nozzleisprovided with a the outer barrel 10. The delivery, end 17 of the nozzle 15 is the thinnestportion and of the tube.

handling of the plugs easily the inner sur-f face 19 of the inner-barrel 11- made slightis adapt-edto engage the end oi'the condenser or other tubes to be cleaned.- The outer end of: the lnner surface l8 of the nozzle is a continuation of the inner surface 19 of theiinner'barrel 11. v

It has been found that 'a'bettercleaning of the tubes is brought about by using plugs slightly greater in diameter-than the bore In order to take care of. the

ly larger than the plugs-enough larger to permit their free, entry and passage therc-' t'l'iio u gh. v zle 15 istapered the smallerend, which delivers the plugs to the tubes, being of substantially'tlie' same size as, or smaller than, This tapering of the The innersurface 18 of the nozthe bore of thetube. v delivery end of the'nozzle, causes the compression of the plug and its delive tube with considerable force to ai.

starting of the cleaningoperation.

I Situated about the outer barrel -10 of the gun and midway of itslength is the magazine base member 20., This base member 20 a has a cylindrical opening to receivethe outer barrel of the gun and the two are preferably shrunlrto'gether. An opening or port 21 in the basemember 20; coincides withan opening 220i similarsize in the outer barrel, In the inner'barrelll is an opening 23 of similar size, shape and position which registers with the opening 22'when the outer and inner barrels are in a certain position.- The opening 22 in the outer barrel. may,

' however, be closed by the body of the inner barreh when the latter isrotated; This closing action is brought about after the admission of theplug to thefinner barrel and before the admisison of air pressure; he

openings 21,. 22and 23 are all substantially rectangular'in shapeto conform to the shape 1 of the'plugs.

} Above the opening 21 lisa suitable magazine25 for carrying the plugs use in the gun. This magazine as illustrated, has an opening atits upper end through which the plugs are dropped. Theph gsmay fall on either side of the-opening and collect in a line within the f ring shaped body 01' the magazine. A.stop.me1nber 26 is pivoted at and is provided with a suitable handle 28 which may be moved from side to s de and will, when moved, admitthe plugs from that side away from which the handle isimoved.

This is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 in dotted lines i Adjacent the. magazine'base -meniber20 is an 91111111181) member which Ihave-illustrated comprising a ring 29 having a'nopening of a size toiitthe outer barrel 10 and hav- 7 ing a hollow extensionf30-which serves t'ion'to register as soon'as anv a handle and to conduct the air to the in terior of the innerrbarrel as will be presently described. At the outer; or lower end ofthe handle is a threaded opening to which is attached the air hose 31. preferably shrunk on the outer barrel 10 and isprovided with an opening'32 which conneets with the air barrel. I e V An open ng 34c' nthe inner barrel 13 0f a opening 33 in the outer size similar to the opening 38 of the cuter :bar'rel 1:1 and is so placed as to be capable of registration with the opening 34. These The ring 29 is openings 83 and 84 are comparatively na'rrow slots. extending parallel to the axis .the barrels and are so arranged that'they cannot register with each other until aite'r the opening 32 has closed bythe relative rotation of the barrels 10 and 11. By slight further relatiye rotation the openings and 34: are caused toregis ter and "admit the air pressure. this construction it is clear that the air cannot be admitted until after the closing of the opening 23 which serves as the plug port. I I I w The operation of my improved plug gun 18 as follows 1 7 Assuming that theparts are in the posiment takes place.

the, parts at the time of The gun is now held with its l'lOZjZld' against'the opening thepipe tobeeleaned;

its position being easily'niaintained' by pre. Q

ing the body. of the operator. against [the knob or handle' lQ. In this positionj'with the loperators hand on theextension 30; a l

slight rotary, movement, in the opposite d i lreetion to that given the knob is give-nth handle 30. "The openings 33, 3l-will be caused to register. This will connect tr space behind the plug with the air pressure. The plug will immediately move toward the nozzle. Upon arrival, the nozzle will compress the plugduring passage along tli'e ta pered wall18, Theplug willpass from the nozzle and through the tube, cleaning the 1 latter. v I a V v I As soon as. theplug is through the tube.) the extension 301s movedin the opposite direction to move the outer barrel in the opposite directioni'elaitiveto the inner bar-' frel. T1113" cuts oii the reglstration of'the ports 33, 34 and consequently cuts as the,

air. The gun may then'be released. and While being placed against another tube opening, theinner barrel ll'may be turned to admit another plug and the operation re- 7 peated. v a

The plug itself is made of anyfsuitable compressible material as vfor example sim lar to the construction of the plug setfortb in my Patent No. 1,597 ,850, dated August 31, 1926; Y a

It is to be noted that this operation can be carried on in a very expeditious manner,

- there being practically no time consumed except that necessary to shift from one tube to anotherand to force the plug through the tube bore.

VVhileI have shown and described in detail a preferredembodiment of my inven-v tion, I desire to have it understood that the showing is merely illustrative, that Ido not limit myself to the exact showing and that claim and desire to secure by Letters Patvmodifications and changes -may be made Without departing from the spirit of my invention and Within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, What I ent is 1. A gun for forcing cleaning plugs into and through pipes, compris ng a. barrel, an

' outlet extending in the samegeneral direction as the axis of the barrel, a member pivotally mounted about the axis of the barrel, the barrel having an opening for the admission of plugs, said barrel having a chamber communicating With said opening and outlet for the respective admis-' sion and expulsion of plugs, said members havin a ortion tor 0108111 the 0 611111 in b b b one position of the member and means .forconducting fluid pressure to the interior of the barrel. 7 v p A gun for forcing cleaning plugs into and through pipes comprising a barrel, an outlet extending in the same general direction as the axis of the barrel, a member pivotally mounted about-the axis of the barrel,

, tion as the axis of the barrel, a member piv-' otally mounted about the axis of the barrel,

the barrel having an opening for the admission of plugs, said barrel having a chamber communicating with said opening and outlet for the admission 'andexpulsion of plugs,

said member having a portionfor closing the opening in one position of the member,

. means for conducting fluid pressure to the interior of the barrel and a magazine for I supplying plugs to the opening of the chamber.

8. Agun for forcing cleaning plugs into and through pipes comprising a barrel, an.

outlet extending in the same general directhe barrel having an opening for the admis-, sion of plugs, saidbarrel having a chamber communicating With saidopening and outlet for the admission and expulsion of plugs, 1 said member having a portion for-closing the opening in one position; of the' member, means for conduct ng-fluid pressure to the interior of the barrel, the member and barrel having ports controllingadmission-"of the fluid pressure and so placed'relative'tojthe plug opening that when theportis openthe plug opening Will be closed;

4:. A gun forforci'ng cleaning plugs into and through pipes, comprising a barrel have -1ng a chamber, an outlet extending coaxially V with the axis of the barrel and connected to the chamber, a cylindrical shell about the barrel, concentrictherewith and in which the barrel is movable 'rotatably on its'axis,

the cylindrical'shell enveloping the barrel,

registering openings in the shell and barrel for the reception of plugs, registering ports in the shell and barrelfor the delivery of fluid pressure to the chambenthe openings and ports being soplaced' relative to each other that the openings will be'out of registry When the fports' are in registry and so that the ports-Willbe out of registry when the openings are in registry.

7 5. A gun for forcing cleaning plugs into .i

and through pipes comprising a barrel'having a chamber, an outlet extending coaxially with the axis of theba rrel chamber, ftWo inlets in the barrel for admission of plugs.

and fluid pressure'respectively, and "a;single means movable relative to'the barrel forcontrolling the admission of plugs and fluid pressure to the barrel chamber.

' 6. A 'gun for forcing cleaning plugs into and through pipes compr smg a barrel havinga'ohamber, an outlet ext-ending coa xially V yvith the axis of the barrel chamber, tWo inlets in the barrel for. admission of plugs and fluid pressure respectively. and a ,rotat-g'f j able means having an axis common to the barrel for controllingthe,admission of'plugs' 4 and fluid pressure-to the barrelchamberigf 7. A gun-for forcing cleaning "plugs into and through; pipes comprising a barrel, an

opening at the end of, the barrel for dis-- barrel to propel theplug.

8. A gun forforc ng cleaning I and through pipescomprisinga barrel, an

of the barrelfor the admission of plugs and plugs into i 1 opening at the end of the "barrel for discharge of the plugs, an opening inthe side means for closing the opening at Will, means for supplying fluid pressure to thebarrel to propel the plug, and. means for holding a plurality of plugs adjacent theope-ning in.-.

the side of the barrel inposition to deliver 1 one plug at a time to thebarrel When the g a,

opening is uncovered.

A, un ifm' filmin lean n p u s in h in a s p y of P ug dja n h penipndtfhreugh pipes comprising .abarrel, an lng 1n the side vof thebarrel, the magazine 10 Opening fat .the endfof ft-h barrel for dis having a plurality ofdeliveryepenings'gncl charge if the plugs, a-n pening in the side switch means for controllingthe' deliveryiof fthe bzgrrelfor the admissi qn ofrplugs and plugs. Y y

7 means) for closin theopening lat iIL-means In testimony whereof l-hereuntohflix 'rn'y f or supplying uid 'pressu r e "00 the barrel signature.

w prop lr c P g a d ma a e me s o r HENRY W IS, 

